Maynard told the paper: "A lot of people had it in their minds that I was the next Justin Bieber. But I didn't want to follow anyone.

"I had to find out what kind of an artist I was, because I had never been in a studio, I hadn't even written a song. I had this motto - 'It's better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation'."

The singer also said that it was his "unique stamp" on music that helped raise his profile on YouTube.

"I took covers and switched them up and did it my own way, and people became a fan of me rather than a fan of the songs," he explained.